Budget 2018 reactions from lawmakers

Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai:

It is an inclusive budget that covers all communities and regions of the country.

The budget will also help grow the economy further while encouraging the private sector to invest and open up new sectors.

For transport, the RM10.4bil covers development of the nation's road, rail, sea and air, which will help develop the logistic sector towards a digital economy.

The Prime Minister placed a lot of emphasis on family institution and values system to ensure that we have a harmonious and united society.

I am happy to see that the there is zero-rated Goods and Services Tax for the construction of schools, temples and houses of worship.

These amenities will help the social development of the country.

The announcement of the abolishment of the tolls is good news as it will help ease the cost of living for those in the urban areas concerned.

On allocations for the Chinese community, MCA thanks the Prime Minister for the allocation for Chinese schools.

The Prime Minister has not missed supporting the SRJK. We will continue to develop these schools as they are important in developing the nation's human resource and talents.

In fact, all school streams have been given allocation every year and this shows that the budget is inclusive.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong (in charge of Chinese new villages and SMEs):

The Prime Minister has increased the allocation for Chinese New Villages, especially in two areas. One is the upgrading of the new villages and he also gave another RM10mil to repair houses for new villages.

It is very timely and for the past two years we have been doing house repairs in new villages, where we have received good response from public especially those from new villages.

As for the upgrading of infrastructure, that has been our main task all this while so I am glad the PM has given us more allocation so we can do more for new villages.

On the SME side, I believe the PM is trying his best to stimulate the economy by helping the SMEs, and we can see the RM7bil set aside for the SJPP that this is one of the best ways to help SMEs. On top of that, EXIM bank has also been allocated RM1.1bil to help export-oriented SMEs.

At the same time, I am glad to see that the marketing development grant is maintained. In the past I think the SMEs can apply for it to go overseas to do their promotion.

We see that the Government has allocated RM150mil for that, so it is also the right move to revive and make the grant more available for SMEs to penetrate the market, especially overseas. These are the good catalysts to help SMEs to achieve 41% contribution to GDP.

On the other side, income tax deduction for the middle-income group is also very timely and this is to absorb or reduce the burden borne by the middle class.

Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Dr Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki (in charge of Jakim):

Some important announcements were made, like the increase in allocation of RM668mil for the distribution of monthly allowance for imams, bilals, Kafa teachers and takmir teachers.

The one off RM1,500 payment to them on top of that is the Government's acknowledgement of Malaysia's religious scholars.

Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr S Subramaniam:

The Health Ministry has been given RM26.58bil, which is roughly a 9.5% increase from last year. This year, we have an allowance for new programmes, which will aid our efforts to increase awareness especially on non-communicable diseases.

The Prime Minister also announced a seven-percent intake of Indians into public universities and civil service. For the past 15 years, this request has been on the agenda at MIC annual general meetings, so his announcement is phenomenal.

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng:

On the Penang Airport expansion, we hope it will be a big one instead of just a small expansion. Of course, we hoped that GST would be abolished but that will not happen. I see that for housing development, the GST has been abolished, but there should have been an exemption for state roads as well. It seems that roads built by state governments are still subjected to GST and this does not make sense because the roads are for the people's benefit.

Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh:

We consider this a "soaring upwards" budget since there is an increase in allocation – where we got 13.5% of this year's Budget, compared to 12.13% last year. I am also glad to note that there has been an RM90mil allocation for scholarships, as well as more for MyBrain and education grants, as well as an additional allocation for Universiti Malaya to make it into the Global Top 100 universities list by 2020.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan (in charge of the EPU):

Although we have abolished thee tolls for some areas and given GST exemptions for more things, the Prime Minister can still afford to give allocations to benefit people from all walks of life, from babies to retirees.

It is an exceptional achievement. God willing, with positive developments like this we are more confident that the rakyat can accept government policies.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said (in charge of law):

I am thankful for the setting-up of three more special courts for sexual crimes against children. I hope with the three courts we can start with specialised training for judges and prosecutors.

As an MP for a Felda territory I am also thankful that Felda settlers have been allocated a lot in this budget. To me this is the best budget so far. It shows the Government is organised and not all over the place like the Opposition. It is important to have a Government that is consistent, and I hope this budget shows the rakyat just that.

Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Rohani Abdul Karim:

The Prime Minister's patience has reached a limit and he is giving GLCs and GLICs up to Jan 1 next year to appoint women to their (respective) board of directors. They can't give any more excuses or they risk being named and shamed. While the budget is inclusive and covers a broad spectrum of the community, it acknowledges in particular the role that women play in the well-being of the family institution.

Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani:

We will structure some of the existing tolls that we have not abolished, maybe extend their tenure so we can compensate for the tolls abolished. I don't have the figures right now but I think the Government will not have to pay anything – we just extend the tenure of the existing tolls that are still operating.

Based on our feedback, there are almost 140,000 people who will benefit from this. This is an election budget, and this is a budget that will carry on until the elections.

Defence Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein:

Even if it is not an election budget, we have been accused of saying that it is. The welfare of our troops and our veterans has been a main agenda for years. We could not have announced the blueprint for our military housing until 2030 if we were looking at it short-term. This is not an election budget as the issue of welfare for our soldiers and veterans cannot be addressed overnight.

Opposition leader Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail:

If you give goodies then it is only a short-term solution. We have to weed out the corruption, leakage and wastage in our country, that is most important. You can give all the goodies but the basic problem of the country in economic administration has to be addressed and that is rarely seen. His budget is one of showmanship.

Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azmin Ali:

We have introduced the Tawas Programme for Selangor children for the past eight years, but how come the Prime Minister only introduced (the similar) Adam50 now? He also announced the introduction of Off River Storage (ORS) to protect water resources whereas Selangor has developed several ORS to protect the water from pollution and to ensure continuous water supply.

The Prime Minister also announced an allocation of RM4.5mil for TVET (technical and vocational education and training) programme, but I am disheartened with the amount. Why is it only RM4.5mil when there has been a three-fold increase on unemployment rate among the youths? Selangor will also introduce TVET programme in our Budget next week, but we will give RM50mil so youths can benefit and fulfil the industry demand.

For the tolls that have been abolished in Selangor, I believe this is a people's victory, who have been fighting against the toll implementation in the state. This announcement was due to the people's bravery so I would like to congratulate them.

Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar:

The Government has not forgotten about civil servants, who make up 1.6 million of the population – farmers, fishermen and rubber tappers and planters they are all getting the benefits under the budget.

This is a wholesome and encouraging budget and I do not see any flaws. A lot of employees in several income bracket can also heave a sigh of relief as they are exempted from tax.

The women are also not left out in this budget. Looking at the current economy, the budget will definitely benefit the younger generation, who will one day take over the country's leadership. These efforts are clearly spelt out in the TN50 programme where the country would be among the high-income economies by 2050.

Urban Well-being, Housing and Local Government Minister Tan Sri Noh Omar:

This is the first time farmers are given financial aid of RM200 for a three-month period while waiting for the harvest season. Usually during these three months, they do not have any income and this financial aid will come in handy. I am also thankful to the Prime Minister who has listened to our plight by abolishing some tolls in Selangor. This will definitely smoothen traffic on the Federal Highway.

I was also pleasantly surprised when the PM announced GST exemption for Joint Management Bodies (JMB) which manage the maintenance of the strata-titled houses. I am also thankful to him for allocating RM2mil to maintain low-cost flats, especially those that are over 20 years old.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Nancy Shukri:

We have been looking forward to the betterment of dilapidated schools, so the RM1mil allocation for Sabah and Sarawak is very important for us because we want to see good facilities for our children in these states.

It is also heartening that for scholarships this time around, there is a RM2.2bil grant for scholarships, research grants and vouchers for books, these are all to encourage education. The farmers, planters and those in the agriculture industry are given subsidies and the government is allocating so much for them. It is encouraging them to plant crops so we will be more independent in terms of food security.

There are also a lot of TN50 related programs prepared for the future, and the budget allocations allow another opportunity for Gen Y to involve them in industries that will be relevant to TN50.